Such Suite Success

Rare is the time you’d want to be wheeled into a surgical suite, but if fate happens to bring you to one of the eight operating rooms in NorthBay Medical Center’s new North Wing, know that they are all filled with the latest equipment, technology and talent found nowhere else in Solano County.

ABOVE: J. Peter Zopfi, D.O., at left, stands in the hybrid operating room, in front of the Siemens Pheno, equipment so advanced it is found in only two other hospitals in Northern California — UCSF and Stanford.

Four of the eight surgical suites in the North Wing are considered general purpose rooms, while three others are outfitted with the latest to handle trauma, neurological and cardiovascular cases. The eighth is a “hybrid” operating room.

Hybrid Rooms Combine Imaging with Surgeries

Edie Zusman, M.D., (top photo) tours the neurosurgical suite while it is still under construction. Mark Lee, surgical tech, (bottom photo) is among several Surgery staff members to practice work flow drills in the suites before the new wing opened for patients in October.

Hybrid operating rooms are unique because they combine all the equipment of a traditional operating room with highly advanced imaging equipment. They are typically larger rooms built with higher ceilings and lead-lined walls to accommodate this equipment, according to Jim Bollig, senior director of Perioperative Services.

The hybrid room’s advanced technology is found in the Siemens Pheno, a robotic device that combines multiple imaging capabilities with an integrated surgical table. The table can support all sizes of patients, from pediatric to bariatric, and can be adjusted or rotated in countless positions. That means surgeons can perform everything from peripheral vascular grafts to aortic valve replacements and upper gastrointestinal interventions.

Hybrid operating rooms are typically used for minimally invasive procedures — such as an angioplasty, which is a surgical repair or unblocking of a blood vessel, especially a coronary artery. But, if that surgical case needs to be quickly converted to open heart or vascular surgery, everything the surgical team needs is already in this room. “This is a huge benefit for the patient, because the patient won’t have to be moved to another surgical suite in the middle of an evolving medical condition,” Jim explained.

Minimally invasive surgeries are beneficial for patients because they reduce the risk of infection and bleeding and allow patients to recover and go home faster.

Other medical facilities in the area have hybrid rooms, Jim noted, but the only two other hospitals in Northern California to have the Siemens Pheno — the latest generation of imaging technology — are in the Bay Area, at UCSF and, as of October, at Stanford.

Complex Brain, Spine Cases Have High-tech Advantage

The neurosurgery suite is equipped with an O-arm/Intra-operative CT — that provides real-time three-dimensional imaging and stealth computer-guided navigation — and a Zeiss Pantera operating microscope that allows NorthBay neurosurgeons to perform the most complex spinal and brain surgeries.

“Together with our multidisciplinary care teams, the neurosurgeons are celebrating the fact that we can now combine our national best practices with world-class equipment in this surgical suite,” said Edie Zusman, M.D., chief of Neurosurgery and medical director for the NorthBay Center for Neuroscience. “NorthBay Healthcare, located at the crossroads of Northern California, has been able to attract and retain the best and brightest neurosurgeons to care for our brain and spine patients. We’re so looking forward to caring for our patients in this beautiful, state-of-the-art environment.”

Trauma-focused Suite Ready in a Heartbeat

The trauma suite is slightly larger than other suites, and has a larger storage area, necessary to accommodate an array of surgical equipment and supplies.

“This trauma surgical suite provides the space necessary to handle all types of traumas, from thoracic, abdominal, orthopedic or the multiple reconstructive procedures that may be required in some cases,” noted J. Peter Zopfi, D.O., chief of staff, and trauma program medical director for NorthBay Healthcare. “It’s very exciting for our trauma surgeons to not only have this space, but to have all the surgical suites so close together. It makes it easier to have a subspecialist step in at a moment’s notice, or to have urgent consults, if necessary.”

Additionally, all eight suites are equipped with an integrated video system, allowing images from various sources, such as X-rays and other exams, to be viewed right next to the surgeon at the surgical field, so that he or she does not need to leave the sterile field to view an image.

Ceiling-high Technology

Each surgical suite is equipped with the CLEANSUITE Operating Room System. All OR cleanroom technology — electrical, lighting, plumbing, med-gas, boom mounts, diffuser screens, filters, duct connections, fire protection, dimmable lights and a speaker system — is packed into the ceiling above the surgical bed. The system effectively directs airborne contaminants away from the patient and operating room personnel and provides optimal lighting during surgery.